According to the European Commission, research and innovation are recognized as a key factor in the development of the blue economy and the wider achievement of the ambitious goals of climate neutrality by 2050. Regions and countries connected by rivers and seas need harmonized policies to plan future innovations for Blue Growth in sectors such as transport, water pollution, energy connectivity, marine ecosystem protection and others.
In order to collect feedback from relevant stakeholders, regional workshops were organized in 2022 where challenges and opportunities for strengthening regional and macro-regional cooperation on smart specialization for a sustainable blue economy were identified.
In response to the identified challenges and opportunities, a number of actions have been offered that can be implemented through the so-called solutions that include both technological and social innovations. The goal of this gathering is to connect stakeholders who deal with or are affected by the identified challenges and opportunities on the one hand (the so-called "owners of challenges and opportunities"), and on the other hand QHelix actors who develop technological or social innovations in support of the identified actions (so-called "solution providers").
The gathering is organized by the University of Belgrade and the Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation as partners in the BLUEAIR project.